Cateye commuter Computer
 

Has anyone tried this yet? I like the thermometer, but it seems like some of the features wouldn't be so interesting after using it for a while. Especially if you take it easy on the way home and hammer on the way back.

http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/600 http://www.cateye.com/sites/cateye/u...cts/600-og.jpg

I think the ETA is rather useless and it's a shame it's displayed so prominently. IMO, a better display would be current speed, trip distance, current time, and current temp (i.e. replace ETA with trip distance).

I feel stupid for asking but how does it determine the ETA? Does it ask you in advance how far your commute is?

I have this. I got it because I misunderstood what a "night mode" back light was supposed to be. I thought that you could set the back light to stay on at all times. Not so. It just lets you press the screen activating the back light for a few seconds without turning to a different page.

I can't imagine having it any other way. You wanted it to be backlit non-stop? The battery-life would be horrendous.

Carbon offset function????!??

That would go perfectly on my "smugness flotilla." And where are the color choices? :P

I wouldn't get one of these if I already had a computer, but if I didn't and needed one, I'd consider it. Some of the features are cool, like this one:

But the arrival time is kind of dumb. I know how long it takes to get to work, and I also know how far I am from any block. I don't need a computer to guess. It would be a non-issue if it wasn't the biggest data field on the screen.

A thermometer is kind of nice, at least in the winter.

:rolleyes: It's pretty easy to multiply by a constant - calories is basically the same trick, but with time instead of distance.

The other thing that bugs me about this one is that with the back light on, you have to view it at about a 45 degree angle to get optimum contrast. If you have it mounted on your stem and are looking straight down at it, it will be hard to read.

FWIW, I have a Cateye, not your model though, and prefer my Bontrager 4W to it by far. I don't think I'll purchase any more Cateye trip computers.

Planet Bike Protege 9 has temperature. Doesn't have the kind of multi-day memory that has, but I can't imagine how that would be useful anyway.

I noticed they also have an "Urban" computer that is similar to the commuter one, but it does calories instead of carbon offset.

And for the multi-day trip feature, that's nice, I only have to update my mileage chart once a week that way. I'm always forgetting to reset my trip odo.

I have this computer and have been using it for about a month. The backlight is completely useless since the letters are not illuminated when you turn on the light. The green against the grau letters make it impossible to read at night. The Eta mode is cool in that is gives you a real time perspective on your arrival according to your speed in real time. This probally seems useless to most but its nice on my 60 mile trek on the weekends. The other modes are easy to access with push down face. The only thing I have not figured out is to have at least two manually entered distances. This would allow me to have it setup for the week days with one and saturday with the other. The only way to do this is to re-enter a mileage so that the computer can estimate the Eta correctly. If anyone else knows different then please let me know how.

I was given one as a birthday present almost two years ago. The temp is interesting but tiny. The ETA appears to go by what you last did (i.e. if I go in and press reset is uses 16.2 miles as the target distance). I was also hoping the back lit would be easier, mine appears to reset to a default that requires you to hold the back and press down while riding in order to turn it on for a one touch light. Very annoying. The time (my actual need for a computer) is tiny and I rely on it to tell if I'm on track to get to work on time. I haven't bothered to figure out the collected data. Not strongly recommended.